A Face Not Seen by Michael Ross

*If you don't ask the right question, the answers are meaningless.* 

Martin Russell was living in his rock bottom. His wife divorced him and took him for everything he had and hoped to have, including his son. One day his old crush and friend Hannah shows up out of the blue and begins to bring him out of his funk. After a series of good fortune things begin looking up for Martin, until Hannah disappears. Martin will do anything to get her back including putting his trust into people he doesn't know. 

I really enjoyed this book. It was different, which made me get through it so much faster. This was a really easy book to read because it flowed so well. 

I loved how each character flowed into the other. It was cool to see how each character was getting to know the others.  

Hannah and Martin were great together and I was really rooting for them. She helped him get back on his feet after being knocked down for so long. It was sweet the way all of Martin's friends swooped in to help him when he needed it. Even after years of not speaking they very easily did things that proved their friendship. I can only hope that some of my friends would be so warm and helpful if I needed it. 

Bobby and Zack were a cute duo too. It was almost father and son like, the way Bobby was trying to keep Zack out of trouble. There were plenty of times he could have thrown Zack under a bus and ruin his life but he never did. He pulled him out of a rough life and made him grow up. The way Zack treated his mom by the end of the book was so sweet. I'm glad Zoe and Bobby got together too I was hoping they would. 

This was a great story and I am so glad I got to read it.  

My Favorites of 2014

This is a list of 15 of  the books or book series that I read and loved in 2014. The ones that I would push on everyone if I could.

1. The Crescent Chronicles by Alyssa Rose Ivy
2. Helia's Shadow Part One by K.C. Neal 
3. Branded by Abi Ketner and Missy Kalicicki
4. The Krinar Chronicles by Anna Zaires
5. The Fault in Our Stars by John Green 
6. Delirium by Lauren Oliver 
7. City of Heavenly Fire by Cassandra Clare 
8. The Dark Elements by Jennifer L. Armentrout 
9. Opposition by Jennifer L. Armentrout 
10. If I Stay by Gayle Forman 
11. The Mine by John A. Heldt 
12. The Unearthed Series by Evan Ronan 
13. The Whispers of the Fallen by J.D. Netto 
14. Verboten by Amelia Louise Carter 
15. Assassin's Creed Unity by Oliver Bowden 

I'm excited about all the books I get to read in 2015. 

Happy Reading everyone! 

2014 Book Recap

These are all the books that I read in 2014:

1. Flight (The Crescent Chronicles #1) by Alyssa Rose Ivy 

2. Eternity (Guardian Trilogy #2) by Laury Falter 

3. Close Liaisons (The Krinar Chronicles #1) by Anna Zaires 

4. Dollhouse (The Dark Carousel #1) by Anya Allyn

5. The Gatekeeper's Sons (Gatekeeper's Saga #1) by Eva Pohler 

6. Focus (The Crescent Chronicles #2) by Alyssa Rose Ivy 

7. Breathless (The Blue Fire Saga #1) by Scott Prussing 

8. Close Obsession (The Krinar Chronicles #2) by Anna Zaires 

9. Phantom Summer by Amy Sparling 

10. The Gatekeeper's Challenge (Gatekeeper's Saga #2) by Eva Pohler 

11. Close Remembrance (The Krinar Chronicles #3) by Anna Zaires 

12. Reckoning (Guardian Trilogy #3) by Laury Falter 

13. Deathless (The Blue Fire Saga #2) by Scott Prussing 

14. The Fault in Our Stars by John Green 

15. Ruining Me (Ruining #1) by Nicole Reed

16. Paper Dolls (The Dark Carousel #2) by Anya Allyn 

17. Born by Tara Brown 

18. The Gatekeeper's Daughter (Gatekeeper's Saga #3) by Eva Pohler 

19. Delirium (Delirium #1) by Lauren Oliver 

20. The Maze Runner (Maze Runner #1) by James Dashner 

21. Found (The Crescent Chronicles #3) by Alyssa Rose Ivy 

22. Breakable (Contours of the heart #2) by Tammara Webber 

23. Soar (The Empire Chronicles #1) by Alyssa Rose Ivy *Crescent Chronicle spin off*

24. The Scorch Trials (Maze Runner #2) by James Dashner 

25. Third Degree by Julie Cross 

26. City of Heavenly Fire (The Mortal Instruments #6) by Cassandra Clare 

27. The Elf Girl (Journey into the Realm #1) by Markelle Grabo 

28. White Hot Kiss (The Dark Elements #1) by Jennifer L. Armentrout

29. Carrie by Stephen King 

30. The Walking Dead: The Road to Woodbury by Robert Kirkman 

31. Fallen (Fallen #1) by Lauren Kate 

32. The Gatekeeper's House (Gatkeeper's Saga #4) by Eva Pohler

33. Into the Darkness (Darkness #1) by K.F Breene

34. If I Stay (If I Stay #1) by Gayle Forman 

35. Opposition (Lux #5) by Jennifer L. Armentrout

36. Halo (Halo #1) by Alexandra Adornetto 

37. The Whispers of the Fallen by J.D, Netto 

38. First and Forever (The Crescent Chronicles #4) by Alyssa Rose Ivy 

39. The Shadow Prince (Mortal Enchantment #1) by Stacey O'Neale 

40. City of Stairs by Robert Jackson Bennett

41. Obsession by Jennifer L. Armentrout 

42. Sunshine by Robin McKinley 

43. The Secrets of Life and Death by Rebecca Alexander 

44. Helia's Shadow Part One (The Starlight Age #1) by K.C. Neal 

45. Backstage Pass (The Backstage Pass Rock Star Romance #1) by Elizabeth Nelson

46. Verboten (Verboten #1) by Amelia Louise Carter 

47. Branded (Sinners #1) by Abi Ketner and Missy Kalicicki 

48. Organ Reapers by Shay West 

49. The Mine (Northwest Passage #1) by John A Heldt
50. Girl in the Well (Psycho Thrill) by Vincent Voss 
51. The Beast Within (Psycho Thrill) by Christian Endres 
52. Riddle of Fate by Tania Johansson 
53. Since You've been gone by Mary Jennifer Payne 
54.  Spring Blessings by S.C. Houff
55. Assassin's Creed Unity (Assassin's Creed #7) by Oliver Bowden
56. The Blue Journal by L.T. Graham
57. The Unearthed (The Unearthed series #1) by Evan Ronan 
58. The Lost (The Unearthed series #2) by Evan Ronan
59. Unrelenting Nightmares by Stan Yocum 
60. Buffy the Vampire Slayer The Willow Files Volume 1

I greatly surpassed my reading goal this year! When this year started I wanted to read 20 books, in 2015 I want to read 70 books. Happy New years everyone!

*I'm posting this early because I will be away from my computer until after New Years.*

Unrelenting Nightmares by Stan Yocum

*I received this book for a honest review.*

This book wasn't what I expected it to be, I'm not sure whether that is a good or bad thing. When I heard assassin I immediately thought about Assassin's Creed, I'm sure that's because I'm so young and I have never read anything else about assassins. Cameron Clark was more of a war like assassin, at first and then he became a personal assassin. 

He started off being an assassin in the military, not a bad job, at least I would think so. Apparently he wasn't so keen on it because he wanted out. Then when he got out he killed people rich people wanted dead. I guess there's more money that way but less pride. 

He grew up in a dysfunctional family, he hated his dad and the feeling was mutual. That brought on his love to kill, he started by killing small animals, then went to killing wild game and now people. He finds enjoyment by killing- psycho.

There was a lot of violence in this book and violence doesn't bother me but there was just something about this book. I don't think I would have chosen this book for myself. It took a really long time for it to get my attention and it failed to hold it for very long. I'm not saying it's a bad book, in fact it was well written. I'm just saying this book wasn't for me. 

Synopsis:

Stuart Garrison, a brilliant virtual reality software developer, has his company poised on the threshold of industry dominance with the release of his newest virtual reality system—Next World. Among his competitors is Preston McBraid, the cutthroat CEO of a rival company. McBraid realizes that if he does not own Next World, his company is bound to lose its premier position atop the computer industry.
  

Driven by desperation and greed, McBraid hires the notorious Nomed, a highly sought-after assassin who commands millions to kill a target. The FBI learns of the assassination plot and intervenes to protect Stuart. He in turn quickly augments the FBI team, hiring two security specialists as additional defense: a monster of a man, nicknamed Superman—and Alex Nichols, an expert in the field of security. Stuart clings desperately to the hope that he can make it though the onslaught of Nomed’s assassination attempts. If he does, his next ingenious virtual reality product—Mind Games—will blow the world away with its originality and staggering mass appeal, and catapult Stuart to the top of the computer industry as its reigning czar, and make him a billionaire many times over.

In this gripping suspense thriller, the wannabe czar of the computer industry is unwittingly catapulted into a deadly cat-and-mouse game against the infamous Nomed, and only time will tell who is clever enough to survive.

The Lost by Evan Ronan

This is the second book in the Unearthed series by Evan Ronan. The first captured me so hard I had to immediately read the second one. Unlike The Unearthed which was a slow burn horror The Lost was a paranormal mystery. I never used to like mysteries but I'm quickly coming around to them, maybe I liked this one so much because it has that paranormal element.

This one took a little longer to grab me than The Unearthed but once it grabbed me I was just as invested. Even though this is the same series I'm not comparing them to each other because they are two completely different book in two completely different genres. 

I liked that The Unearthed was an actual book in The Lost. Stuff like that pulls the series together and it makes this paranormal book feel real, like I'm watching it on tv.

Again I loved Eddie in this, I'm glad he was brought to the second book. I wish it had more Moria and Stan because I thought they were so funny in the last one. But this one had Ana (Anastasia) and that was good enough because she was a tough girl- she was funny too. I loved Ana and Eddie together, their personalities complimented each other well. 

Marty Kindler and his goons were more than annoying. Whitmore was also very irritating but I understood he was the chief of police so it was his job to be hard on Eddie. In the end I liked him though, when he finally talked to Eddie like a person and not a criminal. Sean McKenna made an appearance in this book as well and he was more of an ass this round- if that's possible- he was on a mission of revenge. He blames Eddie for what happened to his son, which is stupid because it wasn't his fault. He got off easy in the end of this and I don't like it one bit. 

Fourteen years ago ... Tessa and her friends played a dangerous game on an icy lake. When the ice broke, no one could save Tessa from drowning. Her death cast a pall over the lives of everyone in town.
Five years ago ... Eddie McCloskey's brother was murdered on their last paranormal investigation. Now Eddie, who swore off ghost hunting, faces the biggest case of his life.
Now ... Marty Kindler, heir to the local gentry, claims the whole town is haunted. Either this is the find of the century, or it's all a hoax. Only Eddie can find the truth. But Eddie better hurry because someone is trying to kill the people that were on that ice with Tess all those years ago. 

This was another winner in my book and I can't wait to start the third in this series. 

Spring Blessings by S.C. Houff

Synopsis: 

Asher Stone didn't want to be a hero. After spending two years recovering from an isolating drug habit, his life was getting on track. He had a girlfriend who he loved very much. He was holding down a job and had a repaired relationship with his mother. One day, Asher was attacked by a manticore that escaped the clutches an order of magi and his world gets turned upside down. Now, Asher is dealing with old temptations and new problems and a destiny that he has to embrace or the fate of the world will crash down on him. The only thing Asher can hope is that Blessings and Hope do spring eternal in this first book in a series.

This is a very unique book. It has a lot of elements that I love in a fantasy genre; it has fairies, fae, vampires, lycans, witches, mages, manticores, nymps, satyrs a nexus, etc....there are A LOT of magical creatures in this book. 

I really liked the way the author narrated the book, it seriously felt like I was listening to S.C. Houff telling me this story. I've never read a book like that and I really enjoyed that about this book. I also really like how the first chapter is the history of the story. It made it less overwhelming, with all the characters and creatures. Like I said there were a lot of magical creatures.

I was a little confused at the beginning but I caught on to what was going on pretty quickly. I wasn't confused because of the story I think it was just all the characters and how they were introduced. Now that I'm finished I'm thankful the characters were introduced chapter by chapter, instead all of them being thrown at me at once.  

Asher was a recovering addict. I never read anything from the perspective of a recovering addict, so that was interesting. It made me think about all the recovering addicts in the world and wonder if they go through these things, minus the manticore and magic. It made me think about stuff I've never thought about before and I love books that make me question everything! 

There were so many characters that I really liked! Puck and Amaya, I mean they were too adorable not to like. And their upcoming Poptart is even cuter! (You have to read the book to find out about Poptart.) Tracy, she was a good Mom that had to do what needed to be done to protect her child. Carin, was weird but I liked her, even if it was sounding incest-y for a moment there. Natalie was sweet to Asher even though he probably didn't deserve it sometimes. Of course I liked Asher, he's the main character so it would be stupid not to like him. He was brave and handled a lot weird stuff better than anyone else can say they would.

There of course were characters that I didn't like, it wouldn't be a good book if it didn't make me hate someone that doesn't exist. Norvita really annoyed me, I think it was how flirtatious she was. She had a boyfriend- a vampire boyfriend- and she was flirting with pretty much anyone. Iago, but he was the villain so I was supposed to not like him. And I really did not like him, I wanted to punch him! 

Find Spring Blessings on:

Goodreads

Amazon

More about S.C. Houff:

S.C. Houff

Twitter

The Unearthed by Evan Ronan

Evan Ronan told me this was a slow-burn horror, at that worried me. I thought that meant it was going to be really slow and that it wouldn't catch my interest quick enough. That was not the case, at all. I was immediately interested to this book. It was so much like all those paranormal movies I love. All that was missing was a "Based on a true story" line at the beginning. 

Once I started it I really didn't want to stop reading it. That's is probably why it only took me a little over a day to read it. If I didn't have to sleep it wouldn't have taken that long. 

I thought it was comical that Evan Ronan wrote his character into the book. I laughed when I first read his name in it and then laughed harder when it said he was an author. I've never read anything like that before, very unique. 

It takes it's time in the beginning introducing everyone. First it introduced the members of the house that were living in the house they believed was haunted. Then it introduced the the members of the paranormal investigation team. Eddie was my favorite character, he was so likable. He was more the people person compared to his brother Tim. 

The Rosselli's moved into the massacre house. A house where three members of a family were brutally killed. They call upon Tim and Eddie's paranormal investigation team to help them figure out what they're dealing with. Billy Rosselli, has found an imaginary friend since moving into the house one that tells him to do very bad things. It's up to Eddie and Tim and the rest of their team to save this family from the same fate as the last.  

This is one series that I look forward to finishing.